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Sunday, 3 July 2011

Nikki Glass #1: Dark Descendant

Contrary to what the title suggests the book is not that kind of dark - like no demons or witches or anything like that. Read on to find out about Jenna Black's new series Nikki Glass #1 Dark Descendant.

Here is the summary:

From the acclaimed author of the Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist books comes the gripping first novel in a new series about a private eye who discovers, to her surprise, that she’s an immortal huntress. Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can’t die. . . . Crazy as it sounds, Nikki’s manhunting skills are literally god-given. She’s a living, breathing descendant of Artemis who has stepped right into a trap set by the children of the gods. Nikki’s new “friends” include a descendant of Eros, who uses sex as a weapon; a descendant of Loki, whose tricks are no laughing matter; and a half-mad descendant of Kali who thinks she’s a spy. But most powerful of all are the Olympians, a rival clan of immortals seeking to destroy all Descendants who refuse to bow down to them. In the eternal battle of good god/bad god, Nikki would make a divine weapon. But if they think she’ll surrender without a fight, the gods must be crazy. . . .

Nikki Glass is a bloodhound in the P.I. business, but her current client is hoping to give her more than a commission. After an accident and near death experience involving her, and her latest employer, strange things start happening. She starts seeing iridescent tattoos on certain people, including herself. Her aim is dead on 100% of the time, and two rival tattooed factions are vying for her time and allegiance. Turns out Nikki is a mortal descendant of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Descendants like Nikki are rare and can become immortal, one of the Liberi. But there's a catch. One that Nikki may never forgive herself for.

I love those first book in a series where everything is being developed. Miss Black definitely doesn't disappoint in those areas. The story is fast paced, and set in the D.C. area. There was a lot of background on Nikki that provided a strong foundation on her personality. Glass has to seriously reevaluate her traits and demeanor as her past definition of herself is altered by supernatural revelations. Using a blend of gods from different cultures really lends it's self to more diverse characters. The supporting cast is just as interesting with descendants of Eros, Kali, Loki, and Zeus just to name a few.

Every Descendents have different inherited skills from the specific God they descend from. It was fascinating to read about each of them and how they use their gifts in their fight against their deadly rivals. Especially liked how all the members their own personalities and character. None of them are purely white each has a dark past and not all of the team members like each other. That made them very much realistic and added a lot of tension to the story. Which I loved very much.

When Nikki first comes up to the house where the Descendants live, she is just a normal human - a mortal. The only way an immortal descendant can die, is if a mortal one kills them. Once that happens, their immortality gets transferred to the once mortal descendant. Definitely confused in the beginning of the book. But as you go further in the story it starts to make sense. She unknowingly kills Emmitt, and his immortality gets transferred to her. At this point all the Descendants think she is working for the "bad guys" aka the Olympians. So naturally they don't trust her. Bad things happen in this book, and even by the end, Nikki still doesn't trust all of the descendants and they all don't trust her. The book has one redeeming quality - no info dump upon us in the intro novel. Well Dark Descendant may not be of those complicated pantheonic novels but it bases upon it and creates its own story. Setup between the two groups is pretty crystal clear and the reasons they don't get along are also out there. Also the Liberi may be the good ones here but they're not all sunshine and daisies.

Nikki Glass was a great protagonist - in addition to her not being a hard headed supergirl she stayed thoroughly suspicious of everyone who wouldn't trust her even if she felt a twinge of conscience when she had to hurt them. Although it was pretty disappointing that there's no romance of any kind for our heroine in the book, but it was okay. She did have a little bit of a connection with Jamaal (Mr. Wild-and-cranky) though which might go somewhere eventually but considering her part with Anderson - maybe something might happen between them. Lot of what-ifs there.

DARK DESCENDANT is a thrilling new urban fantasy with large doses of mythology. Nikki is a terrific heroine; complex, gritty and yet, she still retains her feminism. The world-building is fascinating, the cast of characters eccentric and compelling and the dialogue sharp and entertaining. DARK DESCENDANT grabs you from the first page and holds you in its relentless grip to its exciting ending. Don't miss it! And keep waiting for the next one Deadly Descendant which releases in May 2012.

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